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N. Philly man, accused of murder, had been arrested in drug bust days earlier but not charged

A spokesman for District Attorney Larry Krasner said there was "insufficient evidence" to support charges from the drug bust against Von Jones, who is now accused of killing an 18-year-old days after the bust occurred.

Crime scene tape and a Philadelphia Police car
Crime scene tape and a Philadelphia Police carRead moreChris Palmer / File Photograph

A North Philadelphia man accused of firing more than a dozen shots at a man on a bicycle last year — killing the cyclist and injuring a 20-year-old woman with a stray bullet — had been taken into custody a week earlier during a drug bust but was not charged, according to court records.

Philadelphia police had done surveillance on a home on the 2500 block of West Somerset Street for several days last June, the records say, and officers who searched the house June 13 found several guns as well as crack, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP.

Four people at the house, including 22-year-old Von Jones, were taken into custody, the records say, but only two were charged. Tyrie Bouges, 25, and Kenneth Maurice Henderson, 26, are awaiting trial on conspiracy and drug and weapons counts, records show.

Ben Waxman, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said there was “no evidence” provided to the prosecutor’s office to support charges against Jones in that case.

A week after the bust, on June 20, Jones allegedly killed 18-year-old Tyree Reid at 26th and Somerset Streets, about a half-block from the house where Jones had been arrested a week earlier. Prosecutors say Jones, while on foot, fired at the bicycle-bound Reid, striking him nine times, then ran back to that house after the shooting and stashed the .40-caliber handgun inside a space heater.

Prosecutors have not disclosed a motive in the case, and did not say whether Reid had any suspected connection to the drug bust. A warrant in that case said confidential informants helped police develop evidence.

Jones was arrested in August for several weapons counts and charged in November with murder, according to court records. He was in court for the murder case Wednesday and was held for trial on all charges after a preliminary hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Danielle Burkavage presented forensic evidence linking Jones to the crime, including fingerprints from the space heater and DNA from a sweatshirt. A video of the shooting also was played, although Jones could not be identified in the footage.

Jones' public defenders, Jonathan Strange and Geoffrey Kilroy, argued that the forensic evidence was not conclusive. The sweatshirt — which had gunshot residue on the sleeves — had traces of DNA that could have been linked to at least three other people, according to testimony presented during the hearing. Fingerprints from at least one other unidentified person also were found on the space heater, testimony showed.

“They have not proven to you ... who did it,” Strange said of the prosecutors' case.

But Municipal Court Judge Charles Hayden ordered Jones held without bail while awaiting trial. Jones said little during the hearing before he was taken back into custody.

Two women in the courtroom supporting the victims declined to comment after the proceedings.

Waxman said that although Jones was not charged in the drug bust despite the presence of several guns at the house, the District Attorney’s Office “does not decline any gun-related charges without very good reason.” In 2018, he said, prosecutors approved a greater percentage of violations of the Uniform Firearms Act than in any year since 2014.